This invention pertains to occupant protection devices for automobile vehicle bodies. More specifically this invention pertains to a folded fabric liner that is stored against the vehicle roof and is pulled down around vehicle occupants upon a substantial vehicle side impact or a vehicle rollover.
The passenger compartment of the modern automobile includes many devices that are provided for the safety of the driver and passengers. In general, the devices are designed to restrain vehicle occupants when the vehicle experiences a sudden and rapid deceleration due to a collision or the like. Seat belts restrain an occupant especially during a deceleration due to a front-end collision. Properly engaged seat belts provide passive protection, i.e., they do not require activation by a vehicle collision detection system. Air bags stored in the steering wheel and instrument panel provide additional protection to front seat occupants in such emergencies. These inflatable restraints remain folded in their storage position until an inflation charge is activated. The inflation charge is usually activated by a signal from a suitably located accelerometer that senses the emergency. Air bags stored in a vehicle door or in a body pillar perform a like function in the event of side impacts that might result in penetration of the occupant space.
There remains a need for protection against side impacts to the vehicle that can cause the vehicle to roll over or that otherwise cause an occupant to be displaced toward a side of the vehicle body. It is an object of this invention to provide a vehicle passenger compartment construction that can be activated to cushion the driver and passengers in such a side impact or rollover condition.
A vehicle may experience a driving maneuver or a side impact that causes it to roll on its side. This sudden, often high-speed sideways or lateral motion of the vehicle can abruptly thrust an occupant against the side or door of the passenger compartment. This invention provides a strong pliable cushioning liner that is anchored to the vehicle roof and stored there during normal vehicle operation. If the vehicle experiences a severe rolling motion, the stored liner is pulled around the head and shoulders of an underlying occupant to prevent that person from contacting the side of the vehicle.
Automotive vehicle bodies have a roof that is generally rectangular and defines the top of the passenger compartment. The roof is normally supported by two front body pillars and two rear pillars as well as two side pillars against which the front doors latch. These particular body features are utilized in the practice of this invention.
The interior of the passenger compartment defined by the vehicle body contains front seating for a driver and at least one passenger. The passenger compartment of most vehicles also contains rear seating. The fore-aft direction of the body has a central axis. Occupants seated to the left of that axis usually enter and exit by a left side door and right side passengers use a right side door. Considering the problems to be managed by this invention, should the vehicle roll to the left, the left side occupants may contact the left side, and vice versa, should the vehicle roll to the other side. This invention provides a fabric liner that is attached to and stored against at least one side of the roof. Preferably, such a liner is used on both sides of the passenger compartment.
One edge of the liner sheet is anchored to the inside of the vehicle roof. Preferably, the sheet is anchored along a fore-aft line above the heads of the front and rear passengers. The sheet is folded for storage above the roof liner of the passenger compartment. The shape of the liner is such that it can be drawn toward the adjacent side of the passenger compartment if the vehicle rolls. In a preferred embodiment, the liner is pulled over the heads and shoulders of occupants seated in the front and rear on that side of the vehicle. Left side occupants are thus cushioned by a liner drawn to the left side. Likewise, right side occupants are protected by a liner drawn to their side.
In a preferred embodiment, the fabric liner is generally trapezoidal in shape. It is folded for storage within the area of the roof but when pulled and unfolded it extends fore and aft over both front and rear seat passengers on one side of the passenger compartment. The shorter base side is attached to the vehicle roof. In the folded and stored position of the liner, the longer base side lies near the adjacent side of the compartment and the liner is hidden from view by the headliner that decorates the interior roof of the compartment. The liner is drawn from its stored position by a cylinder/piston mechanism and cable/pulley mechanism that are activated by a vehicle crash mode requiring occupant protection.
In a first embodiment, a piston/cylinder mechanism is located in the middle pillar of the vehicle. Two cables are attached to the piston rod. One cable runs up the pillar to the roof and over pulleys that lead the cable to the front corner of the liner. The second cable is similarly led to the rear corner of the liner. The piston rod is rapidly stroked one time in the cylinder by a high pressure, gas generating charge activated by an accelerometer of other suitable sensor of a rollover condition. The rod quickly pulls the cables and, thus, unfolds the liner and draws it laterally and downwardly over the heads and torsos of the occupants.
Depending upon the design of the passenger compartment it may be preferred to draw the liner from a position other than the middle pillar. Accordingly, in other embodiments, cylinder/piston rod mechanisms are located in one or both of the front and rear pillars and are activated in a like manner to draw the liner to its occupant protecting position.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a detailed description of preferred embodiments.